Chinese Holidays
Friday is Chinese National Day. It will be celebrated all over the country, with a variety of events throughout the day. The highlight for most will be the fireworks displays that will light up the skies Friday evening over both major cities and small towns.
In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people will line both sides of Victoria Harbour Friday night to witness the Chinese National Day fireworks extravaganza, which gets underway at 9 pm. It will last 23 minutes.
Restaurants all over town will be offering special set menus and buffet dinners to celebrate the occasion. A short list of those with the best views of the fireworks follows.
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Hong Kong Side
Five restaurants are located within the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai on Hong Kong Island. All five – Congress Restaurant, Harbour Kitchen, Traders, Golden Bauhinia Cantonese Restaurant, and New Shanghai – will offer special set menus or buffet dinners that night. Best of all, diners will have access to an exclusive zone at Golden Bauhinia Square to observe the fireworks.
InterContinental Hong Kong Kowloon Side
There are six F&B outlets in the InterContinental Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. Guests dining at Harbourside, the Steak House winebar + grill, and Yan Toh Heen can view the fireworks from a private promenade in front of the restaurants. Spoon by Alain Ducasse is serving a special six course dinner. Nobu InteContinental Hong Kong will have an eight course Omakase menu. A cover charge of HK$448 will get you two standard drinks and one of the best views in town in the hotel's Lobby Bar.
Nanhai No. 1 Kowloon Side
Situated atop the iSQUARE in Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui district, Nanhai No.1 offers an unobstructed panorama of Victoria Harbour. It is serving two eight-course celebration dinner sets, specially offered at 61% off the original price in celebration of the 61st anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic.
Duetto Hong Kong Side
If only Duetto offered Balinese Cuisine, it could hold an Eat, Love, Pray tie in! Oh, well. The stylish eatery, which serves Italian and Indian cuisine, has an excellent view of Victoria Harbour. It will host a Festive Fireworks Feast Friday night on its Spectacular Tuscan Terrace.
Readers Respond
Writes Suellen Zima in Laguna Woods, California:
This reminds me of the annual fireworks competitions every fall in Macau. I've seen spectacular fireworks displays elsewhere, but have never seen such unusual displays of firework artistry as were shown then. As I remember, fall in Macau had many cultural events, including concerts in various venues (including in a garden) and an opera extravaganza that was well loved by the Portuguese community there. Fall was always my favorite season when I lived in Macau.
27 September 2010 (via email)
Suellen is author of Memoirs of a Middle-Aged Hummingbird.
Acccidental Travel Writer Responds
Talk about unusual! I remember the fireworks display in Macau on Chinese National Day one year. Suddenly there were fireworks shooting along the top of the river. We all agreed that it was the most unusual effect ever.
But there was no grand finale that night. We kept waiting for it – sometimes there is a gap. But it never came. Slowly people started wandering off . And eventually, we wandered off, too.
The next day I read in the Portuguese newspaper that the the launch pad of the grand finale had tipped over, sending the rockets skittering across the surface of the water rather than up into the air!
Copyright: Michael Taylor Pictured: Fireworks as seen from the lobby of the InterContinenal Hong Kong in Kowloon Photo Credit: InterContinental Hong Kong